High court upholds Ba'asyir verdict

High court upholds Ba'asyir verdict

Associated Press, Jakarta

The Jakarta High Court has upheld a 30-month prison sentence for accused terror chief Abu Bakar Ba'asyir for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, a court official said on Monday.

Lawyers for Ba'asyir, who the United States and Australia allege is the spiritual head of the al-Qaida-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror group, said they had yet to be informed of the decision but would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Ba'asyir was convicted in March of conspiracy in the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, but cleared him of more serious charges of planning the 2003 attack on the U.S.-owned JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people.

Husein Kasing, a spokesman for the Jakarta High Court, said judges there "had rejected the appeal" filed by Ba'asyir after that verdict but gave no details on the ruling.

The court, which convenes behind closed doors, reached its verdict on May 11, but did not immediately publicize it, as is customary in Indonesia.

The 30-month sentence was decried by the governments of the United States and Australia, which were hoping for a longer punishment to deter terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

The conspiracy conviction relates to allegations that Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who was convicted with more than 30 other militants in the Bali bombings, visited Ba'asyir three months before the attacks to ask for his blessing.

Amrozi did not testify during the trial and prosecutors based that part of their case on what police alleged he told them about the meeting. Ba'asyir denied the exchange ever occurred.

"This decision is naked cheating because our key witness, Amrozi, never testified at Ba'asyir's trial," said Ba'asyir lawyer Mahendradata. "We will now take this to the Supreme Court."

Ba'asyir, 66, is known for strong anti-Western and anti- Semitic views but has denied any involvement in terrorism.

Meanwhile, two suspected militants went on trial on Monday accused in last year's suicide bombing of the Australian Embassy, an attack prosecutors said was launched to avenge Canberra's support for the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Both suspects could face the death penalty if found guilty in the blast, which killed 10 people and was blamed on Jamaah Islamiyah.

Prosecutor Andi Herman told the South Jakarta District Court that Neri Anshori joined the attack's alleged masterminds -- Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top -- in transporting the explosives from east Java to Jakarta ahead of the blast.

The second suspect, Mohamad Hasan, was accused of helping the two Malaysians, who remain on the run, make the bomb. He also rode a motorbike used to transport Azahari away from the scene of the blast after he detonated the bomb by remote control, said Fence Ferloway, a second prosecutor.

"Noordin Mohd. Top told (Anshori and Noordin) that the attack was necessary because Australia helped America in attacking Afghanistan," said Ferloway.

"Australia and America have killed Muslims in Afghanistan. That is why we have to attack the embassy," Ferloway quoted Noordin as saying.

No Australian diplomats or other foreigners were killed in the attack. Most of the dead were Indonesian passers-by.

Neither suspect was required to enter a plea during Monday's proceedings.

However, Mohamad denied any wrongdoing in an interview before the trial began. "I don't know who they (Noordin or Azahari) are," he said. "I was just walking down the street one day and I was arrested. I don't know how to make bombs."

Proceedings against three other suspected militants accused in the embassy attack have already begun.